January

"The Honolulu 100," November 2005
HONOLULU’s cover story in November was a joint project with the city and county of Honolulu’s Centennial Commission, in celebration of the city’s 100th birthday.

How could your selection committee possibly omit the two perhaps greatest Hawaiian artists of that century—the great opera tenor Tandy Kaohu MacKenzie and ‘Iolani Luahine, the high priestess of the hula—while including the likes of Jack Lord and that cookie guy Amos, who are about as Hawaiian as the Taj Mahal?

Lest I forget, Val Loh’s "Kahea Maoli" feature is sublime; mahalo no!

Bill Pelzer, Honolulu

Your list of 100 legends is wonderful; you managed to get the essential facts into each concise description. I do think, though, that, since Hawai’i is the Aloha State, you should have mentioned Rev. Abraham Akaka’s famous "aloha sermon." It was that sermon, delivered to the Legislature on the day Hawai’i became a state, that caused it to abandon the Pineapple State idea and vote for the motto we all know.

Also, in John Heckathorn’s review of J at the Willows ("Reinventions," in the Dining column), he describes the room hidden upstairs that few people know about. But surely this is the old Kama’aina Suite that was one of Honolulu’s finest dining rooms in the days of Chef Kusuma Cooray. She cooked for a host of famous people, including Jacqueline Onassis and Prince Charles. I have her cookbook, Burst of Flavor. That room was very well known then.

Kathleen (Pat) Sadler, Pittsburgh, Pa.

"Help on Horseback," November 2005
Katherine Nichols’ piece on a therapeutic horse-riding program in Waimanalo.

Nice article, but I’d like to point out that the Therapeutic Horsemanship of Hawai’i (THH) program is a totally separate program from Manawale’a Riding Center’s therapeutic riding program. THH is currently operating at the Waimanalo Polo Grounds, with two North American Riding for the Handicapped certified instructors and a pediatric physical therapist, offering equine assisted activities to the special needs population on O’ahu. THH also has an affiliate program in Kona on the Big Island.

Nancy Bloomfield, Kailua-Kona

"Crossed Signals," November 2005
Ilima Loomis investigated the dispute over the funding and direction of Akaku, Maui’s cable-access TV station.

An outstanding November issue; one of the best I have seen in years.

As a direct recipient of cable funds provided Maui Community College over the years through cable fees for my distance education courses for Maui County, I was disappointed that the Akaku article did not mention the extremely adverse effects the unilateral withdrawal of hundreds of thousands of dollars had on the college’s educational programming. This, too, was at the foundation of the debate.

The Akaku board withdrew the monies several years back without any consideration of the impact, a move taken after many years of successful sharing, much like what is done on O’ahu with ‘Olelo, Akaku’s counterpart. These funds were immediately restored in the recently negotiated settlement, a settlement suspended by the current board once the Legislature closed and [the board’s] coup took place.

Your article did not focus on these adverse educational outcomes to the Department of Education or the college from the so-called antidevelopment faction of Akaku. Nor did it offer any comments that may be different than Dick Mayer’s, one of the "watch dogs," but surely not the only! Comments from a few classroom teachers and students may have been appropriate as well.

Vincent Linares, Maui Community College, Kahului